Steve Scalise

Republicans impeached U.S. President Joe Biden's immigration chief on Tuesday, the culmination of months of attacks on the Democratic administration as they seek to make border security a key issue in November's election.

A representative-elect from Louisiana died of Covid-19 on Dec. 29, the first member of the U.S. Congress to succumb to the disease.

Republican Luke Letlow, 41, had been elected to Louisiana's 5th district and was due to be sworn in on Sunday.

Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards announced the news on Twitter with a "heavy heart."

The man who opened fire on Congress members as they practiced for a charity baseball game was an ardent supporter of liberal Senator Bernie Sanders - who said he was "sickened" by the "despicable act."

A gunman believed to be a supporter of former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders sprayed a hail of bullets at a GOP baseball practice Wednesday morning, injuring House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and four others before U.S. Capitol Police took down the rifle-wielding assailant.

A gunman opened fire on Republican members of Congress during a baseball practice near Washington early on June 14, wounding several people including House of Representatives Majority Whip Steve Scalise before being taken into custody, police and media reports said.